Did anyone else watch the American Experience episode on Thomas Edison? I just finished my disc of it and thought they did a pretty good job with the amount of ground they had to cover. It sure beat h**l out of most of what the History lite channel puts up. At least they didn't try to tar him as a mean old u-no-what.

I've seen the Modern Marvels episode on electricity and it showed how he didn't like Westinghouse and did about everything he could to prove how Westinghouse's AC electricity was dangerous and to try to convince everyone to stick with his DC electricity. I do believe the worst he did was electrocute an elephant to prove AC was very dangerous. I think he also basically screwed over Tesla when Tesla did something he didn't was possible. I can't quite remember what that was about. Edison was a very smart and intelligent guy though and invented quite a few everyday items that are used now days.

He was an obviously practical inventor, also a stubborn old goat that lost out to Nickolas' polyphase power system, not to mention losing to Berlinger over the record biz. That is where the name "Victrola" came from, to commemorate that win in court.

I would imagine stubbornness had a part in his actions, but there is also the fact that the competing technologies were domains of other inventors' patents and if they were preferred over the patented technologies that Edison owned, he would be out of luck. And over time, that was the case. Everything that Edison had built up, slipped away over time.